Tubal

Biblical Record

Tubal was a son of Japheth, the son of Noah. He is listed fifth, after Gomer, Magog, Madai, and Javan, in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 (Genesis 10:2) and in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 1 (1 Chronicles 1:5). Both passages record only his name; Scripture says nothing about Tubal's life or deeds.

In the prophetic books, "Tubal" refers to the people regarded as his descendants or to the land they inhabited.

• Isaiah 66:19: Tubal appears with Tarshish, Lud, and Javan among the distant nations to which God will send messengers to declare His glory.
• Ezekiel 27:13: Tubal appears with Javan and Meshech as a nation that traded with Tyre. The text records that they dealt in human beings (slaves) and bronze vessels.
• Ezekiel 32:26: Together with Meshech, Tubal is depicted as a multitude lying among the uncircumcised who were slain by the sword.
• Ezekiel 38:2–3; 39:1: The prophecy calls Gog of the land of Magog "the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal" (the KJV reads "the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal") and declares that God is against him.

Among the verses returned by a search for "두발" (dubal) in the Korean Revised Version, Genesis 4:22 refers to Tubal-cain, a descendant of Cain (see Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain), while "두발" in Jeremiah 48:37 is the Sino-Korean word for "hair of the head" (頭髮). Neither is related to this figure.

Significance Within Scripture

In Genesis 10, Tubal appears as one of the ancestors of the nations that spread over the whole earth after the Flood. In Ezekiel, the name represents a northern people far removed from Israel. The New Testament does not mention Tubal directly. However, because "Gog and Magog" in Revelation 20:7–15 is regarded as drawing on the language of Ezekiel 38–39, the two passages are often read together.

Interpretations and Debates

• Location: Many scholars identify Tubal with Tabal, a region of Asia Minor (present-day Türkiye) mentioned in ancient Assyrian records. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus is said to have associated the descendants of Tubal with the Iberians of the Caucasus.
• The meaning of "Rosh": Translations and interpretations differ over whether the Hebrew word rosh in Ezekiel 38:2 should be read as a place name, "Rosh," or as a common noun meaning "chief" or "head." The Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render it as the place name "Rosh."
• Interpretations linking the passage to Russia: Some interpreters in the dispensationalist tradition have connected Rosh with Russia, Meshech with Moscow, and Tubal with Tobolsk in Siberia, reading Ezekiel 38 as a prophecy of a Russian invasion of Israel in the end times. This interpretation spread widely through popular books on eschatology. By contrast, many biblical scholars and interpreters in the covenant theology tradition criticize these connections as resting merely on similarities in the sound of the names and as inconsistent with ancient geography.

In the Korean Church

Tubal is rarely the central figure of a sermon. He is mentioned mainly alongside Meshech and Magog in eschatological sermons and Bible studies on Ezekiel 38–39 or Revelation 20. The interpretation linking these names to Russia is also reported to have been introduced in Korea through some eschatological expositions and books.